Machine type communication (MTC), also called machine to machine (M2M) communication, is of interest to mobile network operators, equipment vendors, MTC specialist companies, and research bodies. M2M communications enable M2M components to be interconnected, networked, and controlled remotely with low-cost scalable and reliable technologies. Such M2M communications could be carried over mobile networks, in which case the role of mobile network is largely confined to serve as a transport network.
A user equipment device (or simply, UE) used as an MTC device for MTC communications in MTC applications (or simply, MTC) has characteristics such as being nomadically (re-)deployed, having low mobility while deployed, being deployed in locations with low signal strength (e.g., in “poor coverage areas”), proving low priority communications, and infrequently sending small amounts of mobile originated (MO) or mobile terminated (MT) data. For example, a smart meter for utility metering applications is a type of UE used as an MTC device (referred to generally as a UE). Such metering devices could monitor municipal utility service usage to periodically report information on energy consumption to service providers. Metering devices may autonomously push reports of usage information to a centralized node in a network, or the centralized node may poll metering devices as reporting information is needed.
Road security is another example application of monitoring. For instance, in the event of a car accident, an in-vehicle emergency call service would autonomously report location information of the car accident to an emergency first responder and thereby facilitate prompt assistance. Other road-security applications for monitoring include intelligent traffic management, automatic ticketing, fleet management, and other uses.
Consumer electronics, including devices such as eBook readers, digital cameras, personal computers, and navigation systems, could also benefit from monitoring. For example, such devices could use monitoring to upgrade firmware or to upload and download online content.